Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican lawmakers enacted legislation last week to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of controlled substances. The measure now goes to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his approval.
As passed, the proposal would eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of up to five grams of marijuana, as well as minor quantities of other drugs.
The legislation also authorizes state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico’s law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.
In 2006, Mexico’s Congress passed a virtually identical measure, only to have it vetoed by former President Vincente Fox, who stated, “Congress … [needs] … to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense.” Fox’s veto came after political pressure from members of the US State Department who warned that enacting such a law could promote so-called “drug tourism.”
Last month, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told CBS’s Face the Nation that legalizing marijuana could potentially quell ongoing border violence. “This (legalization) is a debate that needs to be taken seriously – that we have to engage in on both sides of the border,” he said.
However after meeting with Calderon days later, United States government officials said that the option of the US liberalizing its pot laws is “not on the table.” The White House instead proposed increased efforts to curb domestic drug demand, and also called for expanding the use of ‘drug courts’ and coerced drug treatment.
According to the Associated Press, Mexican drug cartels now derive an estimated 60 percent of their income from illicit pot sales.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.